A picture is worth a thousand words

The adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image, or that an image of a subject conveys it's meaning/essence more effectively than a description does. It also aptly characterizes one of the main goals of visualization, namely making it possible to absorb large amounts of data quickly.

A similar phrase, "One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words", appears in a 1913 newspaper advertisement for the Piqua Auto Supply House of Piqua, Ohio.[2]

An early use of the exact phrase appears in an 1918 newspaper advertisement for the San Antonio Light, which says:

One of the Nation's Greatest Editors Says:

One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
The San Antonio Light's Pictorial Magazine of the War
Exemplifies the truth of the above statement—judging from the warm

reception it has received at the hands of the Sunday Light readers.[3]

It is believed by some that the modern use of the phrase stems from an article by Fred R. Barnard in the advertising trade journalPrinters' Ink, promoting the use of images in advertisements that appeared on the sides of streetcars.[4] The December 8, 1921 issue carries an ad entitled, "One Look is Worth A Thousand Words."

Another ad by Barnard appears in the March 10, 1927, issue with the phrase "One Picture Worth Ten Thousand Words", where it is labeled a Chinese proverb. The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Familiar Phrases quotes Barnard as saying he called it "a Chinese proverb, so that people would take it seriously." Soon after, the proverb would become popularly attributed to Confucius. The discussion of "One Picture Worth Thousand Words" versus "One Picture Worth Ten Thousand Words" Wan yen I hua[clarification needed] and 10,000 miles worth 10,000 books is cited in information graphics where the concept of many in different disciplines and cultures.[clarification needed][5]

More recently it has been quoted as "One showing is worth a hundred sayings",[6] and was published in that form as early as 1966 discussing persuasion and selling in a book on engineering design.[7]

A picture is worth a thousand words

Despite this modern origin of the popular phrase, the sentiment has been expressed by earlier writers. For example the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev wrote (in Fathers and Sons in 1861), "The drawing shows me at one glance what might be spread over ten pages in a book."[8]

The quote is sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, who said "Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu'un long discours," or "A good sketch is better than a long speech". While this is sometimes translated today as "A picture is worth a thousand words," this translation may not predate the phrase's common use in English.

Computer programmer and author Fred Brooks makes an opposite statement regarding programming in The Mythical Man-Month: "Show me your flowcharts and conceal your tables, and I shall continue to be mystified. Show me your tables, and I won’t usually need your flowcharts; they’ll be obvious." The phrase has also been spoofed by computer scientistJohn McCarthy, to make the opposite point: "As the Chinese say, 1001 words is worth more than a picture."[9]